This is the Moment
by Magic Kaito
Summary: From Vegeta's POV. He's thinking some things over


**Notice:** This is no longer a songfic. Just... imagine the lyrics.

AN: I do not own the Japaneseanime series Dragonball Z. But I wish I did cuz I would be rrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiccccccccccchhhhhhhhhhhhh!

This Is The Moment

He turned to watch the Namek fly off with the two children.

"I'm sorry I had to do that to you, son," he thought, "but I can't let you get invovled in this. This is my battle, and I must win it the only way I know how..."

"Wait, what has come over me?" a second voice said. "This is no way for the Prince of all Saiyans to act! These foolish emotions, sneaking up on me again! Everything I've ever done, the fear the sound of my name used to strike into peoples' hearts! That's all gone. I've become weak, vunerable to these silly feelings! But still, I...

"No, Vegeta, what are you doing! You can't care for anything! You are the supreme warrior, the ultimate fighting machine! You have no time for this!

"I can remember being a child on planet Vegeta. I never was around the weak commoners who weren't going to amout to anything. At least, they weren't supposed to. My father always told me that I would be the most powerful Saiyan ever, that I would fulfill the prophecy. That one day, I would rule the universe with my supreme power!

"Then Frieza came along. He got my father interested in his own personal branch of the Planet Trade. It was then that we began sending our weaker warriors to the more pathetic planets to quickly do damage there and then return. Only one was never fully accounted for after he left...

"Frieza saw my potential. I was to train under him and be used in the harder, more challenging missions. But while I was away, my father realized that Frieza was planning to kill him once he got everything done that he wanted to. With my father gone, I suppose he planned to unleash his power on the Saiyans through me. It was then that my father planned to rebel and overthrow Frieza. He couldn't have made a bigger mistake. Frieza, of course, found out about it. Once he had made a plan of his own, he conveniently sent Nappa and I on a mission to destroy a planet that was blocking galatic trade routes.

"Then, about 15 years ago he attacked. Frieza killed my father, and then blew up the planet Vegeta and began telling the story that a comet had collided with it. Nappa and I were returing at the time, and Raditz was finishing up on some strange, red planet near Earth. And then there was the missing Saiyan. Kakarott. This all started only 15 years ago...

"Our records showed that Earth was a weak planet that could be easily conquered. We sent Raditz there to find out what had happened to his brother and why he hadn't completed his mission. Raditz was going to finish off anything Kakarott didn't have done yet and bring him back with us.

"Then the unexpected happened. Raditz found Kakarott, but the fool had forgotten his mission. He had become soft, he even had removed his tail, the moron. But then something impossible occured. Kakarott, who was supposed to be the weakest of the remaining Saiyans, somehow defeated his brother. However, Piccolo, who was helping Kakarott, revealed the secret of the dragonballs to Raditz without realizing that he had a direct link to me and Nappa. It was then that I decided that we should go to Earth and collect these gems and wish for immortality. Why did I never do that? Ah yes... I remember now why I eventually lost that goal...

"Once we landed on Earth, Nappa and the Saiybamen made quick work of Kakarott's little friends. Then the last thing that was supposed to happen did. Kakarott arrived, and even though he was barely able to defeat that weakling Raditz only a year earlier, he made easy work of Nappa. And then the moment that changed my life forever took place. I, the one who was supposed to be the greatest Saiyan warrior ever, was somehow defeated by a third class warrior. Me, the Prince of all Saiyans! Oh, the humiliation. Someone who was only meant to be a weak destroyer of weak planets still managed to defeat me. They even cut off my tail, the savages.

"Then Kakarott had to humiliate me further. That cueball friend of his planned to finish me off. But Kakarott had to act like he was better than me again and he told him to let me live. At that moment, I knew what I must do. I even told him myself. I had to defeat him, and I vowed that someday I would.

"Once I had recovered, I decided to set out for Planet Namek where I knew another set of dragonballs existed. However, I found that Frieza was also seeking eternal life from the dragon. I had had enough of him controling me almost my entire life. And once I got to Namek I learned that _he_ was the one who destroyed my planet, not a comet. Then I knew that I had to retrieve the dragonballs before he did and gain my immortality. But I learned that I had more competition than that. Apparantly, Kakarott's son Gohan, Krillin, and Bulma had come also looking to revive their friends.

"I easily plowed through Frieza's henchmen, but in the end I could not get my hands on all of the balls at once. I was forced to team up with Kakarott's friends, and then Kakarott himself arrived, even stronger than he was before. Again I was over shadowed by this projected weakling. But it got worse, much worse than that.

"While I was asleep his friends summoned the dragon and managed to wish back the Namek. When I arrived, it was all but too late. The creator of the balls died which destroyed the dragon as well. And to make matters worse, Frieza arrived. I was confident that I could beat him, so confident that I convinced him to tranform in order to give me more of a challenge. By the time he got to his final form, he made an easy target of me. He killed me.

"The next thing I knew, the planet was falling apart. And then, I saw the worst thing a Saiyan of my believed callaber could ever have seen. Kakarott, the third class warrior had done it! He had achieved the position that I always believed to be rightfully mine! He was a Super Saiyan. Before I was able to try my skills against his and Frieza's, though, I was sent to the Earth without consent from the stupid dragon while Kakarott, always trying to be the hero, stayed to finsih Frieza off.

"While on Earth, I pondered over everything that had happened to me on that distant planet. Kakarott? Why him? Why not me? I was the one who had been a slave to Frieza almost as far as I could remember. I should have been the one to destroy him. I then realized that immortality wasn't good enough. Of course, I would be able to become stronger over time, but I wanted to beat Kakarott now. I wanted to prove that I was still the strongest warrior over all. I stole one of their pathetic space pods and traveled the galaxy, training on different planets in order to find one that would suit my needs. I found nothing, however. I thought the best move would be to return to Earth and wait for Kakarott to get back so I could find out how he had done it.

"Then what I had been dreading came to pass. I was forced to wear pink! Oh, and Frieza had somehow survived and was heading toward the Earth. Kakarott's friends and I went to the area that I believed he would land in and waited. Once the ship had landed we began preparing for battle, but then Trunks arrived from a future dimension. Of course, I had no idea who he was at the time and was horrified to learn that this young stranger could also transform into a Super Saiyan. I was even more surprised to see him defeated Frieza and his father, King Cold, like child's play!

"Kakarott returned shortly after that, and proved that he had become still stronger while we watched him fight Trunks in the distance. Then he retruned while the strange boy left and told us that we would all be killed by andriods in three years unless we trained. I realized that this would be the perfect time for me to train to become a Super Saiyan, seeing as two people already were as far as I knew.

"I learned that Dr. Brief had built Kakarott a machine that went to 100 times the gravity of the Earth to train in. I forced him to make me one that went to 400 times gravity so I would be sure to outdo Kakarott. It would be more of a challenge on my part and would most likely make me the strongest one of all. He finally consented and I began my work. But then I was unexpectedly interrupted in a way that I never thought the greatest warrior to ever live would be...

"I trained diligently, my only thoughts bent on achiveing my ultimate goal. But Brief's daughter, Bulma, thought that I should take some sort of break while I trained. I couldn't stand her, interferring with the most important thing I ever planned to do. Over time, though, the strangest thing happened. I couldn't figure it out at first. It was... ergh, I can't explain it, it was so weird. Then, I realized what had happened. I...

"No! What am I doing? I am a warrior, not a romantic fool! I live by strength alone, not foolish emotions! Still, I know I can't hide from the truth. I never wanted it to happen. I never expected it to happen. It just... did. ...I'm sorry for what I've put you through, Bulma.

"Never the less, I soon realized that I was wasting valuable time for my training. I went into space to help keep my focus, which was lucky because nine months later and I would have been bothered until the andriods came. I pushed myself to the limit, my only thoughts bent on achieving the level that was meant to be mine. I didn't care about what I was doing to my body. I only wanted to be the ultimate warrior. However, I eventually got to the point where I knew that my body would break from doing even the most simple attacks. At the moment when my life was on the line, I didn't even care anymore. Kakarott and beating him meant nothing to me. And that was when it happened. I was finally a Super Saiyan! I kept on training until the time for the androids to arrive came. By that point, I was sure that I could easily beat them.

"When I came to the area where they were fighting, Kakarott was gone with a heart disease of some kind. It was finally my turn to shine. I made quick work of Android 19. But then, the boy from the future, who I later realized was my son, came and said that he andriods that he knew were different, even stronger than the first two. When 17 and 18 appeared they killed their creator and raised Android 16. I thought that I would be able to fight them for sure. But I was defeated. After all of the non-stop training I went through, I was defeated. By a girl, no less.

"Once I was able to fight again, that Cell creature had appeared. We soon realized that there was no way any of us could defeat him in our present states. Then we learned about the Room of Spirit and Time. Trunks and I trained in there for the equialent of a year. I went to fight Cell after we were done, for I had managed to reach a level that of beyond a Super Saiyan. But I was foolish and listened to his stories that he would be more of a challenge once he absorbed Android 18. I let him go ahead, but once he got to his final form, even I could never destroy him. The monster decided to set a tournament that would be held in nine days, which gave us almost no time to train. I trained for another year in the chamber.

"Then came another one of the worst days in my life. After those silly Earthlings were through, Kakarott stepped forward to fight Cell. They had a long battle, but in the end they found themselves evenly matched. Kakarott eventually gave up and sent his son, Gohan, in to fight. He put up almost the same battle as his father, but then Cell learned that Gohan had hidden powers that he decided he wanted to see. Come to think of it, it was probably my cells that made him do that. Anyway, the biogenetic beast tortured the child so much that he did harness his powers. But they took him to the second level of a Super Saiyan. I couldn't believe it! The youngest one there had managed to become stronger than any of us! It was infuriating. First Kakarott, and now his son had proved themselves stronger than me!

"Then the boy was over confident and began toying with Cell, not taking the opportunities he had to destroy him. When a punch that was hard enough made Cell lose 18, he knew that he couldn't win. He attempted to self-destruct and take the entire planet with him. But Kakarott had to play the hero again by sacrificing himself for everyone, for me. I won't let him out shine me like that again.

"His attempt wan't good enough. Cell returned... and he killed Trunks. Though he was from the future, I realized that I had let my son down, that I should have been there for him. I began to attack Cell in my rage, but he easily managed to throw me down. Then another one of those moments where Kakarott and his family made me feel like a fool happened. Cell was going to finish me off, but Gohan sacrificed his left arm to save me. Then, the boy somehow managed to defeat Cell. I had been humiliated for the last time.

"For the next seven years, I continued to train myself in inhanced gravity, while I also took my position as a father and trained Trunks, hoping I could make him stronger than Gohan and Kakarott's newest child, Goten. I then found out that Kakarott would be allowed to return for one day and compete in the World Martial Arts Tournament. My chance had finally come to defeat Kakarott with my new abilities. We were even scheduled to fight in the first round. But then that Kai fellow showed up and told us he had a problem to take care of. Kakarott decided to go along and help, and I reluctantly went with him.

"We learned about the Buu creature and witnessed the power of Babidi's servants. When I watched Kakarott fighting one of the monsters, it became clear to me that no matter how hard I tried, I would never catch up to him. I then remembered the fighters at the tournament that Babidi controlled and what a surprising incerase everyone said they had in power. I began to think that if I used him, I could get to the level I should have been at if I hadn't let myself be distracted.

"Once this was accomplished, I began to attack Kakarott. I didn't care about what that oversized gerbil told me to do. We still had an evenly matched fight, however. But then Kakarott's attention went to that Buu creature. He wouldn't focus on our fight, which is not what I wanted. I tricked him into thinking that we could go fight him and then knocked him out. I decided that I should take care of this monster myself to prove my abilities against Kakarott's. Buu proved to be much tougher than I ever imagained, though. It has now dawned on me that I never should have let that wizard take control of me and make me forget the important things in life and only focus on the foolish. I hope that I can redeem that mistake right now. So I must carry on with what I am doing."

Vegeta turned to face the large, pink creature.

_"Trunks... Bulma... I do this for you. And yes... even for you, Kakarott."_


End file.
